Scent of Twilight
by Crimson Elemental Alchemist
Summary: A new transfer student arrives at Seiyo Academy and she's in Amu's class. She immediately catches the Guardians' attention with her strong bond with Inu, her Guardian Character. But what's even more interesting, is this girl's deep, dark secret...


_Disclaimer: I do not own _Shugo Chara_. I do, however, own Twilight, Inu, and any character not associated with _Shugo Chara_._

_Crimson: Yeah . . . **rubs back of head in embarrassment** I got into _Shugo Chara_. It's so cool! I love it! I think it's the first time I got so into a shoujo though . . ._

_Inu: There's nothing wrong with that._

_Crimson: I suppose . . . ._

_Inu: Anyway, on with the story._

* * *

**Chapter One–**

**First Day & Already Trouble Brews**

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

Twilight Miyomoto looked up from the slip of paper she clutched in her white-knuckled grip. Her mouth fell open in awe and the vague directions she held slipped from suddenly-numb fingers. Her silver eyes widened in shock, and she took an automatic step backwards, ready to bolt.

"What are you so nervous about?" came a calm question from her right.

Instead of looking over to the speaker, Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. Her stomach caved in on itself in fear, and she had to suppress a frightened whine.

"Just go to your class. It's only school," the voice reasoned with her. The soothing tones did help calm her, at least, a little.

"But, Inu," she whined, trying not to attract attention to herself. Her hands automatically reached up to her head, adjusting her patterned hat so that it fit more snugly over her white hair. She was glad to have found one that matched her school uniform so well. Even though she hated narcissism, she had to admit that she looked pretty good for her first day at her new school.

"Seiyo Academy?" she muttered, eyeing the beautiful white building in front of her. "It's so graceful," she remarked, the artist in her catching her momentarily off-guard.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that," Inu agreed, resting on her shoulder. His blue-black hair fell away from his face as he leaned his head back to scrutinize the school.

Glancing over at him, Twilight noticed how deep in thought her Guardian Chara looked.

"However, if you don't hurry, then you're going to be late," he remarked.

"Eh?" Twilight glanced down at her watch, realized what time it was, and made a mad dash for the doors. She tried not to think of all the stares the other students of the academy gave her as she hurried to her class.

* * *

"Everyone," Nikaidou-sensei addressed the Star Class, catching the students' attention, "we have a transfer student today." The grin on their teacher's face told the class to be nice to the new student.

"Ooh! A new student!" Ran and Miki exclaimed in unison; their eyes sparkling in anticipation.

"I wonder who it could be, desu," Su asked aloud, also getting excited.

"Ah! Maybe I can gain another servant?" Kiseki–Tadase Hotori's Chara–wondered to himself.

Tadase and Amu Hinamori exchanged silent grins at their Guardian Charas' obvious enjoyment.

"Class, this is Twilight Miyomoto. She'll be your new classmate," Nikaidou-sensei introduced as a girl with long white hair stepped into the classroom.

"Aah! Pretty!" the girls in the class exclaimed immediately, watching the new girl make her way over to the teacher.

"Sumimasen, Sensei," she apologized. "The directions the principal gave me weren't very accurate," she explained, a light blush forming on her cheeks.

"Kawaii!" more of the class cried.

"Her voice is so soft! And she's so shy, it's sweet!"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

"Such pretty white hair!"

"And her silver eyes are so mysterious! Even her hat is cute!"

Nikaidou-sensei sweat-dropped as the class erupted into "fan mode". He turned his attention back to Twilight who looked to all the world that she wanted to disappear into the floor. A bright scarlet blush ran across her face, and her white bangs hid her eyes from view as she dropped her gaze to the ground.

He was about to tell her to go take a seat when he spotted something hovering next to Twilight's head. For a minute, he watched as the girl's Guardian Chara whispered something to her. It seemed to have some effect for Twilight suddenly looked him in the eye and politely asked if she could take her seat.

"Uh . . . yes." He let the matter of her having a Guardian Chara drop for the moment (after all, it wasn't his business anymore) as he turned to his class in search of an unoccupied seat.

He spotted one next to the King of the Guardians. _'How convenient,' _he thought to himself.

"Hotori-san?" he called to the "King". As he expected, Tadase Hotori stood up.

"Hai, sensei?"

"Miyomoto-san will sit behind you," Nikaidou-sensei announced, giving the new student an encouraging smile as she nervously walked to her seat. He watched for a few moments as Twilight sat down and started fumbling in her bag for her notebook before he started the day's lesson.

"Hello," Tadase greeted. "My name's Tadase Hotori." After a moment's hesitation, he also added in an undertone, "And this is my Guardian Chara, Kiseki." At the mention of his name, Kiseki appeared from behind Tadase's head.

After a few shocked seconds of staring at the miniature king floating in front of her, Twilight returned with her own greeting, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hotori-san and Kiseki-san." She gave them a nervous smile, glad that she had been able to say that simple sentence without stuttering. "I'm Twilight Miyomoto and this is Inu, my Guardian Chara." As soon as she said his name, Inu appeared from his hiding place in Twilight's hair. His silver eyes studied the two in front of him carefully, sizing them up. Two miniature black dog ears twitched in his black hair when Tadase spoke.

"Pleased to meet you, too," Tadase returned with a smile of his own before turning back to the front of the class.

Kiseki hovered for a few more minutes, eyeing the girl's Chara before returning his attention to Tadase's work.

"You looked surprised there for a moment, Koinu," Inu admonished gently as he floated back to Twilight's side. He had used the Japanese word for "puppy" to address her. It was an endearment he had taken up to using for his owner since she seemed to like it.

Twilight blushed, both at the pet name (yeah, quite a pun, ne?), and at the fact that she had been too nervous that morning to notice the presence of other Guardian Chara. She glanced at him in an apologetic sort of way, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to herself by speaking to someone whom other kids wouldn't be able to see.

A red envelope suddenly appeared on her desk. Twilight stared at it in curiosity before looking up to see Tadase's smiling face. She blushed redder at that.

"I'll explain at lunch," he mouthed to her, returning to the lecture about demons in the Sengoku Jidai (A/N: Couldn't resist^^).

Unable to question him about it, Twilight merely hid the letter within the confines of her notebook. After that was done she began taking notes, not realizing that three more Guardian Chara were headed her way.

"Koinu . . ." Inu warned in her ear, his nose having caught the scent of the three coming their way. He had hoped that his owner would have spotted them if not smelled them, too. He sighed, very much unlike him. Anyone who knew him would have gasped in surprise.

"You have a Guardian Chara, too, desu!" the one in a green dress noted happily. She floated in front of Twilight who, startled, snapped up from her notes."I'm Su."

"Ah, looks like you have some artistic sense," a blue Chara remarked, looking Twilight up and down in a pleased-sort-of way. "I'm Miki!"

"You look like you can run really fast!" the third girl, a pink Chara wearing what looked like a visor with a heart on it, said. She pointed to Twilight's slim but defined legs in explanation. "I'm Ran! And all three of us are Amu-chan's Chara."

Twilight cocked her head in question, wondering who this "Amu-chan" could be. _'Three Chara?'_ she thought to herself. _'That's quite spectacular.'_ Brining herself back to reality, Twilight noticed that the three kids were waiting for her to introduce herself. Silver eyes flicking around the room at the rest of the class, Twilight noticed that no one had their eyes on her at the moment.

"I'm Twilight," she whispered, praying that no one would notice her talking to apparently no one. "This is Inu, my Chara." Once again, Inu came out of his hiding place. This time, however, he did more than just stare.

"Pleased to meet you, Su-san, Miki-san, and Ran-san," the elegant Chara addressed, bowing politely to them.

The three girls looked awestruck. All of them had their sparkling eyes glued on the new Chara before them.

Silky black hair flowed down his chibi body, stopping just short of his ankles. Intricate silver designs marked his alabaster skin just beneath his cool and calculating silver eyes. A beautiful, black-as-night kimono–decorated with red roses and silver dragons–hugged what would be a lithe frame had he been human. He wore a pair of gray (and probably silk) hakama over the beautiful kimono. A katana even rested at his left hip, sheathed in a simple black case.

All of the girls thought the same thing, _'Pretty . . . .'_

Inu smirked at the dazed looks he had received from the female Chara.

Twilight sweat-dropped, knowing how much Inu liked attention. After all, he was supposed to be her would-be self: full of confidence, wisdom, and the will to express him–er, _her_self. Giving a mental sigh and roll of her eyes, Twilight directed her attention back to the teacher who had yet to notice her one-sided conversations. She let a small smile creep onto her face. Man, was this year going to be fun . . . .

* * *

"Everyone, this is Twilight Miyomoto-san," Tadase Hotori introduced the girl to his fellow Guardians.

Twilight stood before the small group, buzzing with nerves. She wrung her hands behind her back and smiled shyly at them. All the while, a light blush formed on her cheeks. She would never have suspected that the red envelope would actually contain an invitation to the Royal Gardens where the Guardians gathered after school. Her silver eyes snuck a peek at Inu who had wandered a few feet away from her to visit with the Guardians' Chara.

Feeling her eyes on him, Inu turned to glance at Twilight. He gave her an encouraging nod of his head. Twilight noticed the sign and strengthened her resolve.

"Um, Hotori-san?" Twilight addressed after the introductions were finished. The girl jumped slightly when everyone looked her way at the sound of her quiet voice. She gulped back her shyness as well as she could. "Um . . . why did you invite me here?"

"That's because–" Tadase started, but was suddenly cut off by his Guardian Chara.

"We feel it is for the best that you join the Guardians. You have an amazing power that slumbers within you. We need that power to find the Embryo!" Kiseki explained, starting to laugh maniacally. The other Guardians' Chara watched him with exasperated expressions.

"Well, Kiseki is right," the girl named Amu Hinamori commented. Her pink hair framed her smiling face as she watched the very shy girl sitting across from her. "We've been needing an extra hand since the Jack's seat is temporarily unoccupied. When you came to school, everyone immediately sensed your Guardian Chara, Inu," she said, motioning to the silent Chara whose ears perked up at the mention of his name.

"But I'm not strong at all," Twilight commented without thinking. She blushed outright at her words, covering her mouth with a slender hand. As she figured, Inu came right up to her face and started lecturing her about her secret lineage. Well, not so secret anymore.

"Inuyoukai?" Amu breathed, wondering what the frustrated Chara was talking about.

Both Twilight and Inu froze at the word, realizing what had just transpired. Twilight bolted from her seat and ran with speed greater than that of a human. Inu followed close on her heels, cursing his stupidity.

"Wait! Twilight-san!" Yaya cried after her. She got about as far as standing up before Twilight zipped through the door to the gardens. Her bemused expression stared after the girl long after she had left.

"Inuyoukia?" Tadase wondered aloud. "Could that mean that Miyomoto-san is a demon?" he asked, looking back at the other three Guardians and their Chara.

"Kusukusu," Rima Mashiro began, but didn't need to finish.

"Roger!" the little clown Chara exclaimed, saluting her owner before flying off in the direction of Twilight and Inu. The other Guardian Chara joined her in the search, all of them curious about the situation.

"Would it make a difference to any of you if Miyomoto-san were a demon?" Tadase asked his friends, a gentle smile on his face.

"Of course not!" Yaya piped up, her incredulous look breaking into a happy grin. "I think she's cute! I want to be friends!"

"Same here," Amu agreed, eyes glittering. "I'd like to learn more about her and her Chara."

Rima nodded in agreement, her long light-colored hair falling over her shoulders.

"Well, we'd better wait here then until they find her," Tadase suggested, taking his seat. "So let's begin our meeting."

* * *

"I'm sorry, Koinu," Inu said softly, shaking his head at his rashness. His silver eyes watched Twilight sadly.

"No, it's alright," Twilight choked, biting back a painful sob as it wrestled into her throat. She had collapsed into a heap on the grass, next to a thick tree. She now leaned her back against the trunk, ignoring the way the bark dug into her sensitive skin. She reached up and pulled off her patterned hat, not seeing the point of wearing it anymore. Two snow-white dog ears popped up as soon as the offending pressure was removed. They swiveled around for a bit, stretching out sore muscles, before finally settling down on the top of her head. "That's much better," Twilight muttered, trying to rub the ache out of her abused ears.

"Aw! So cute, desu!" came a delighted cry to her left.

Twilight's ears swiveled around in that direction, as did her eyes. She soon caught sight of a group of Guardian Chara coming her way. That didn't surprise her though: she had caught their scents getting near her for awhile now. She just didn't want to run anymore. Besides, Chara didn't frighten her like humans did.

"Dog ears!" Ran shouted, landing on Twilight's white hair and playing with her ears.

Trying not to flick her ears, Twilight let the Chara pet them. It felt pretty good, to say the least.

"So you really are a dog demon?" Kiseki asked Twilight, though his eyes were watching Inu.

Tilting her head curiously, Twilight nodded at him. "Half dog demon anyway. I'm inuhanyou," she explained to the Chara, not nearly as shy around them as she was around other people. For this she was very grateful.

"Inuhanyou! Inuhanyou!" Kusukusu repeated gleefully, spinning in circles in the air around the girl's head.

"Will you consider joining the Guardians?" Kiseki inquired, moving his eyes to Twilight, at last.

"Er . . ." Twilight didn't know what to say. Would they truly accept her? She never had someone do that before. Then again, she had never met anyone with Guardian Chara before either. Maybe she should try, after all her mother always kept telling her to make friends. Of course, her mother meant make friends that would accept her for what she was. This could be her chance. Besides, she had just gotten to Seiyo Academy; she didn't really want to leave on her first day . . . .

"I'll consider it," Twilight consented, giving the Chara a genuine smile.

They cheered.

"Come on, then! To the gardens!" Kiseki commanded. The others ignored him and, instead, sped ahead of him.

Twilight laughed at the look of frustration and anger on the little king's face as he raced to catch up. Realizing that she had actually laughed, the shy girl clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Let's race, Light-chan," Miki offered, glancing back at Inu, too.

Twilight nodded as did Inu, and all three were off in a flash. Twilight loped lightly, just enough to keep up with the other Chara but not enough to actually pass them.

The usually shy and timid girl had to admit that she was actually enjoying this. However, worries began to bubble up within her. Sure, she could get along well with the Guardian Chara, but what about the Guardians themselves? Making friends was not one of her strong points. Oh well, she had already decided, hadn't she?

Twilight glanced over at her Chara, Inu. Inu glanced back knowingly, and gave her the smile that was hers and hers alone.

Yes, she could definitely do this.

* * *

**Dictionary of words:**

_**inu** – "dog" in Japanese_

_**desu** – I think this is what Su says at the end of all her sentences in the anime. **Desu** is used in formal sentence structures and is attached to nouns and adjectives. **Masu** is attached to verbs._

_**sensei** – "teacher" or "master" in Japanese_

_**sumimasen** – "I'm sorry" or "Excuse me" in Japanese_

_**kawaii** – "cute", "pretty", "charming", "dear", etc. in Japanese_

_**-chan** – a suffix for a familiar (female person) or a suffix for children in Japanese (I've read somewhere that it can even be used by lovers)._

_**-san** – a suffix used for formally addressing someone (ie) Mr., Mrs., Ms._

_**koinu **– "puppy" in Japanese_

_**ne? **– "right?" in Japanese (like "isn't that right?")_

_**chibi **– "runt" or "dwarf" in Japanese_

_**kimono **– Japanese clothing_

_**hakama** – Japanese clothing (kind of like pants)_

_**katana** – Japanese sword_

_**inuyoukai** – "dog-demon" in Japanese_

_**youkai **– "demon" in Japanese_

_**hanyou **– "half-demon" in Japanese_


End file.
